MEng Materials Science and Engineering / Careers

Year of entry: 2024

Career opportunities

"The opportunities are there at Manchester, make sure you grab them and become the best person you can be."

"Manchester prepared me greatly for my move into a high-performance company like McLaren, because the potential of the university is phenomenal. If you have an interest and a drive to discover, learn, develop, you can find a way at Manchester to do it."

Ella Podmore / Fault Analysis Engineer, McLaren and 2018 graduate

Materials science and engineering graduates are highly sought after and are recognised by employers for their knowledge, advanced research skills and independent thinking, so you will finish your degree with an excellent chance of gaining meaningful employment.

The University of Manchester is one of the most targeted universities in the UK for top graduate employers. Graduate with a degree from us and you'll be in high demand, according to The Graduate Market in 2023 report - High Fliers Research

Typically, our graduates progress to rewarding careers in research and development; management; and technical roles with both large materials manufacturing and end-users. Other graduates choose to apply their technical and analytical skills in fields such as patent law or accountancy, while your degree can also open up opportunities in careers as diverse as teaching, engineering, consultancy and technical development.

Some of the roles our recent graduates have gone on to include:

  • Materials scientist
  • Materials engineer
  • Development scientist
  • Materials technologist
  • Research associate
  • Materials chemist
  • Product development scientist.

Our recent graduates have gone on to work for:

  • Rolls Royce
  • Jaguar Land Rover
  • BP
  • 3M
  • Airbus
  • Smith and Nephew
  • DePuy
  • BAE Systems
  • Siemens
  • Bentley Motors.

A materials science and engineering degree also provides an ideal springboard for higher level study (towards a PhD, for example), while the course - accredited by the Institute of Materials - can count as academic training towards Chartered Engineer status.

Careers Service

We are committed to helping you get the best start after graduation, that's why The University of Manchester's award-winning Careers Service will continue to support you two years after graduation.

Department of Materials Blog

Explore more about our students' experiences, our alumni and where they are now, and our department in our blog .

Accrediting organisations

This course is accredited by the Engineering Council and Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3).

Upon graduating with an accredited Bachelor’s (with Honours) in engineering/technology plus further learning of an accredited Master’s degree- such as this MSc course- students will have fulfilled the educational requirements for professional registration as a Chartered Engineer (CEng).